


Persephone and Hades

by brightlightsinthebigcity



Category: Barry (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anxiety Disorder, Confessions, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Love at First Sight, Minor Violence, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2020-10-30 04:58:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20808920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlightsinthebigcity/pseuds/brightlightsinthebigcity
Summary: Barry Berkman comes to class one day and meets his new scene partner who turns out to be his soulmate.





	1. I Choose You

**Author's Note:**

> Might do a part two unless someone begs me not to whoops

Barry couldn’t pinpoint why the sense of dread pulsed through him when his soulmark started burning, the floral crest of the goddess of the underworld on his ring finger knuckle flowed with white hot heat. He was standing outside of the theatre, ordinary enough as class started momentarily. His thoughts were with the bloody towels under his driver’s seat, used to clean off the job that had caused his tardiness. Gripping his hands into fists, Barry pushed through the doors quietly. He felt his classmates’ eyes on him, but his attention was quickly occupied by a loud yelp from Nick’s scene partner on stage.

“I’m sorry, can I just take a second? My hand-“ She suddenly locked eyes with Barry, whose own hand was ablaze with pain. But he couldn’t feel it. All he could feel was the warmth of his heart just from looking into her deep eyes. She seemed just as breathtaken, taking a step forward when-

“This is NOT the time for a tight five! This scene isn’t giving me ANYTHING! You, Barry! You must come up here and take Nick’s place!” Barry blinked, noting Gene pointing him toward the stage. Something took over him as he walked up onstage, still staring at her as Nick shoved the script into his hands, muttering something about typecasting. She was even more beautiful up close, her mouth agape at him.

“Alright, let’s take it from Hades’ line on the top of page two,” Gene declared, sitting back in his chair and gesticulating at the pair. Barry looked down at the script, the words swimming in front of him. He snuck a peek at her; she had recomposed herself and was encouragingly nodding at him to start the scene. He cleared his throat.

“You don’t have to do this. I’m just telling you now, it’s not going to be easy,” Barry reads, the honesty in his voice a little too real as he imagined talking to her about his past for the first time. There was also affection in his voice betraying his immediate attraction to her. 

“I want to be with you. Screw my mother!” She gets closer to him and revealing their height difference. He gulped, his Adam’s apple prominent as her eyes linger on him.

“Your mother is one of the most powerful goddesses, one of life and light. You don’t want this life, full of death and darkness. You deserve more than this.”

“You’re more than your job. You’ve been kind to me…I chose to run away with you and now, I choose to stay with you.”

“Don’t say that! You’re not meant for this life,” Barry hesitated before he obeys the script, placing his hand on her cheek; instinctually, she leaned into it, her eyes moving from his throat back to his eyes. 

“I’m meant to be with you. I know it. Now give me the pomegranate.” They didn’t move for a moment, intensely looking at each other as he slowly lowered his hand. Her eyes widen and she grabbed his hand as she spots the soulmark she knew deep down was there. Barry’s heart swells with pride as her smile appears, brighter than the sun (this pride greater than when he shot the sheep-fuckers and received applause). As she locks their fingers together, he sees it too and almost tears up: his Persephone tattoo lines up with her Hades one, the heavenly glow of their marks uniting captivating everyone’s attention in the room. Before either of them can say anything, a loud voice interrupts their moment.

“I did it! I matched up two soulmates!! I am a god of love. Oh Aphrodite!!” Gene rushes out of the room with a manic glee as the class cheers for the new couple. Barry and his soulmate shyly look at each other but are once again kept from speaking by the very man who claimed to unite them.

“Full price for the class time! You’ve learned so much from witnessing true love so you can pay me for the time!”

//

“I’m a hit man.” The foreign sound of the truth escaping his mouth in his car hits him with the full force of a bullet hitting a bulletproof vest. Her name was Y/N and he knew that if she was going to choose him, she needed to know what life she was choosing. As he went into detail, explaining how he was recruited and what he was doing in Los Angelas, she just listened. Her eyes stayed on him, nodding as she processed her soulmate being a murderer. Her calm demeanor made sense as Barry had found out earlier that she was a psychology student, training to become a therapist for children with broken homes. Finally, Y/N put her hand on his, an identical movement to the way Barry had put his hand on Chris’ to keep him still as he— 

“You’re more than your job, Barry,” she quietly remarked. Her repetition of the line cut through his flashback, her hand now grounding him to reality instead of hurting him. He still couldn’t bear to look at her, staring straight ahead into the familiar parking lot where he had once before bared his soul to a stranger.

“I’m a military kid; I saw what war did to my dad, what it does to my brother. Of course you got talked into this… business.” Her simple understanding compelled Barry to look back at her, the shock in his wide eyes meeting the compassion in hers. 

“You’re my soulmate. I’m gonna be here for you, period. Also…” she paused, sliding her hand into his, the security of her mark side by side with his, drawing a sigh of relief from his chest. 

“You’re really cute, so I want to give this a try. Does that make me crazy?” 

“So you wanna—“ Barry was cut off by Y/N’s quick lean over the console to kiss him eagerly. Somehow, despite their very direct conversation, Barry was taken by surprise but was able to feverishly kiss her back after a moment of hesitation. It was not quite perfect with his mouth half open when the kiss started, but it was heaven to them. He expected that he would never get to kiss her once he confessed, never get to join together with the other half of his soul. He didn’t deserve it, Barry decided as Y/N pulled away breathlessly to look at him, her marked hand stroking his cheek softly. Barry stared at her intently, memorizing her joyful features as he tried to push her away. 

“Our life together is not gonna be normal. Fuches is gonna hunt me down to do jobs for the rest of our lives and now I have this weakness…” Barry trailed off as Y/N patted his cheek softly and pulled away to buckle her seatbelt. Matter of factly, Y/N said the words Barry didn’t realize he needed to hear:

“Just promise me that you’ll teach me how to defend myself so you won’t worry about me all the time,” she stated, gesturing for him to drive. As Barry stared at her determined face, he knew that he was in love with her and that he would do anything to protect her from the death that often arrived at his doorstep. 


	2. I've Got you to Protect Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry Berkman tries to train his soulmate to protect herself, but things get a little heated out in the desert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the nice feedback! this chapter is written for AO3 user Canadia69 who suggested it!

The desert was airless the first day that they went out to practice together. Barry had insisted on taking separate cars to an empty parking lot, getting into a plateless Ford with Y/N hiding in the trunk, driving out to the middle of the desert, and leaving the car to walk the remaining mile between them and the makeshift shooting range. Y/N was sweating profusely; she had discarded her blouse back at the Ford, remaining in shorts and an undershirt, Barry walked behind her, trying to keep a watch out for anyone trying to follow them. She looked back at him, rolling her eyes affectionately.

“Do you go through all this with your Chechen recruits or just the ones you like?” She teased, but Barry didn’t fully process the joke, his mind racing and his tattoo warm on the trigger.

“Just you,” he replied shortly as they arrived at the base he had made just for her. There was a musty fence, poorly crafted out of driftwood with some glass bottles lined up on top.

“Are those the drinks from our first date?” Y/N asked softly, squinting to see two Catalina Breezes among the bottles. Barry’s eyes unfocused for a moment and he found himself back at their date two days ago: _Her smile, their soul marked fingers touching on her couch as they watched some shitty documentary about a restaurant in Colombia, her breathy sigh as their cuddling escalated… _He snapped back to reality, Y/N resting her hand on his shoulder and looking up at him with concern.

“Let’s get you set up,” Barry pulled the Glock 43 out of his backpack, sweat and fabric sticking to his back with the sun beating down on them. He showed her how to load the weapon, his heart skipping a beat as she wrote notes on a small yellow legal pad she had procured seemingly from mid-air. Eventually, it was time to start shooting. Y/N’s hands shook quietly as Barry handed her the handgun; she only steadied herself when he placed his hands on her elbows for a fleeting moment.

“No hesitation. You hesitate or think anything but _kill, _you’re gonna end up dead.” His voice cracked on the word _kill_, his face dark and his throat drying up at the thought of his soulmate having to kill someone. Y/N kept her eyes on the prize, aiming for the glass coke bottle on the left side first. She missed by several inches, but she tried to keep the disappointed sigh in the bottom of her lungs. Barry closed his eyes, his jaw tightening as he tried to subdue the hysterical paranoia out of his voice. The image of Y/N bleeding out on the floor, her eyes vacant, made his stomach churn.

“_Focus_,” he managed to get out, both of them sensing the other’s tension. Y/N straightened her arms, straining to resemble the wooden fence she was aiming for, and fired again. This time, she clipped the side of the bottle and it wobbled off of the edge despite the weakness of the aim. Y/N squeaked with excitement, turning her head to Barry with a childlike glee.

“I did it!” She started to exclaim. Barry remained still, his face still glowering.

“Not good enough. Again.”

“But I knocked it off. I killed it-“ Barry mechanically snatched the gun away from her, as if possessed, and hit all but one bottle with precise rage; the bottles shattered loudly as they were quickly dissolved by his bullets. Y/N watched him, swallowing her nerves down as she watched his breathing become shallow and his emotionless eyes harshly blinking. She forced herself to examine her soulmate, to try to find the man she had so swiftly fallen in love with that week.

“I’m going to be okay. I’ve got you to protect me,” she reassured him. Y/N carefully removed the smoking gun from his hand, made sure the safety was on, and placed it carefully on the duffel bag, stroking his knuckles where his soulmark was with her free hand.

“Who’s going to protect you from me?” His voice was hoarse from holding back a hurricane of emotions, the hyperventilating getting stronger and cutting him off from saying any more. Y/N knew he had returned to her with that question, soothing him as she moved to get him to sit in the dirt with her. Barry crumpled to the ground, wrapping his arms around his knees with Y/N’s hand in his giant one. Putting her free hand to her mouth to cover her shaky breathe, she looked back at the fence and its carnage. One lone Catalina Breeze bottle remained and she faintly remembered it was hers; the label was scratched up and torn because she had nervously fiddled with it, wondering if she was moving too fast inviting her soulmate over to her house for the first date. Y/N wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on top of his head.

“I know you’re not gonna kill me. I’ve never had a relationship where both people have cared this much about each other. We’re gonna be okay. You’re not gonna hurt me,” she whispered, repeating the last sentence calmly until Barry moved from under her chin to look at her face to face. He saw her pale features and her sweat-drenched tank top, but he fixated on her eyes, still warm and determined. Moving to wrap his arms around her instead of his legs, he clung to her with his eyes shut.

“I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to scare you like that,” he whimpered.

“I’m not afraid of you, Barry. You’re my soulmate.” After a calm pause, Y/N helped Barry to his feet, pulling on the backpack before winding her arm around his waist to keep him steady.

“Let’s go home. Maybe I’ll give you a ride in my trunk. If you’re lucky.” They began walking away when Barry froze in his tracks. Y/N waited, her fingers jerking over toward the pistol she knew Barry kept tucked in the back waistband of his jeans. He wriggled out of her arm, jogging back over to the fence to pick up the bottle. He bumped into her side when he came back over, sliding the bottle carefully into the side pocket of the backpack.

“I wanna keep it… for the memory,” Barry shyly confessed. Y/N grinned up at him, snaking her arm back around him.

“I didn’t realize you were such a sentimentalist.” He smiled softly back at her, reaching down to kiss her on the top of her head.

“Only for you, Y/N. Only for you.”


	3. I'll be yours in any way you'll have me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> y/n waits for her soulmate to return from visiting Gene in the hospital, but there’s good news and bad news when Barry finally gets home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all of your lovely support! this is the end of the soulmark!au but I have another fic half-written if anyone is interested!

Y/N was lounging on the couch, reading her psychology of personal adjustment textbook while mindlessly writing important terms in the notebook precariously balanced on her bent left leg. Barry was visiting Gene in the hospital; the couple had planned on finally celebrating the success of the scenes showcase after the pandemonium that had occurred opening night. Sure enough, Sally upstaging Barry in the scene and getting all the acclaim on the same night as Fuches escaping had been a bit of a dark cloud looming over her boyfriend. Y/N closed her books, her grad work forgotten as her eye caught the Catalina Breeze bottle displayed proudly on her mantle. She sighed happily before turning her glance over to Barry’s phone on the kitchen counter nearby. He had insisted on leaving his phone which her at all times so if Fuches was tracking their devices, the older man would think that Barry was always watching over his girlfriend. NoHank had given him a burner phone for when he had to leave her, even offering to stay nearby if Y/N needed backup. 

She chuckled to herself, remembering the instant shine NoHank had taken to her. _Any girl of Barry’s is a girl of mine. _Despite the contention between the two criminals, Y/N could tell that Barry and NoHank really did have a strong connection. She could only imagine how excited NoHank would be for Barry when he finds out that he got the part in the Jay Roach movie after all. The leading man himself had yet to receive the news and Y/N hoped that the combination of Gene getting better and the huge career score would cheer up her soulmate when he got back. The rattling of the doorknob pulled her out of her happy thoughts, forcing her to confront the idea that someone was breaking into her apartment. Her heart jumped up her throat as she stood up, her books falling silently on the carpet as Y/N reached for the Glock 43 stored underneath the couch. Carefully tip-toeing to hide behind the kitchen island by the door, Y/N pointed the gun at the door with her dominant hand and speed-dialed the burner phone with her other hand. Despite herself, she thought back to how Barry had shown her these safety precautions and how goofy his long legs had looked as he crouched down behind their counter, how he had hindered her giggles with a hard kiss that somehow conveyed the severity of all of his emotions.

The phone was shaking as she raised it to her ear. “C’mon Bear, please pick u—“ her voice betrayed her fear as it cracked on her pet name for him, the one she had coined after comparing him to the teddy bear she used to cuddle as a child. Y/N’s prayers were cut off by the door swinging open, the lock successfully tampered with. She took a shaky breath and mentally prepared herself to jump for the intruder’s legs, _to shoot_— Her thoughts were interrupted as the intruder fell to his knees, revealing himself to be none other than Barry Berkman. She lowered the gun and put it down slowly, a choked sob of relief betraying her presence to him. He didn’t acknowledge her, staring at the floor with a hopeless look on his face as silent, angry tears streamed down his face. Y/N crawled over to his side, tilting her head downward to try to look into his big eyes.

“Bear-“

“Gene knows. Fuches told him I.. I…” Barry started hyperventilating, the raw emotions of guilt and hurt overwhelming him as his hands flapped like an actor trying to “shake it out.” Y/N intercepted his hands before he could punch something, her warm thumbs stroking his knuckles soothingly. Their soulmarks burned like they always did when they got closer to each other, still visible as his hands were surprisingly clean of any blood. He looked up at her, trying to read her face, trying to see how badly he had messed things up. 

“How can he believe the man that framed him for murder? Besides, there’s proof that it was the Chechens…” she tried to reassure him.

“He told me to leave town, to never step into his class again,” he choked on his words, wheezing on the large gulps of air he was sucking in. Y/N shushed him kindly, pulling his long arms around her waist as she pressed her lips to his forehead. Her own hands left his so she could wrap her arms around his neck and stroke his hair, trying to envelop Barry in warm love as he cried into her CSUN sweatshirt. They sat there for a while until he pulled away, in awe of how she supported him unconditionally, without the same self interest everyone else valued in his relationship with them. Taking his observation as a victory, Y/N helped the assassin to his feet and walked him to the couch, kicking the books out of the way. As Barry hesitantly sat on the couch, Y/N pressed her hands atop his thighs and pressed her forehead to his.

“You sit here. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to call Leo and tell him that a con artist named Kenneth Goulet has been manipulating Gene and feeding him lies to isolate him from his loved ones. Then I’ll try to get him to let you go to class next week. You might have to pay extra the first couple sessions or lay low in participating but once he’s off his sedatives, it will be like it never happened. Okay?” She gave him a chaste but sweet kiss as he sat there, stunned by her calculated solution. Not paying his shock too much mind, Y/N headed over to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

“I don’t know if you’re hungry, I know hospital food is terrible. I’m going to heat up my Mediterranean food if you want some. Just promise me you’ll take me to that new hipster cafe next weekend to make it up to me, m’kay?” Pulling the plastic container out and placing it in the microwave, Y/N tapped a few buttons before turning back to him to tell him about the part he had gotten. Barry was looking right at her, a look of epiphany painting his face as he asked her a question that stopped her pleasantries in their tracks.

“Marry me?” 

“What!?” She asked, bewildered by his simple request out of nowhere. Suddenly aware of what he asked, Barry sheepishly stood up and scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, we can’t actually get married on paper because of my whole fake identity thing and I know you’re still working on grad school, but you’re my soulmate, literally and emotionally, and I want to prove that I’m gonna spend the rest of my ugly life with you in it and oh god, this was too soon is it—“ mid-rant he noticed that Y/N had closed the distance between them, her face glowing with happiness and her eyes glistening with tears. 

“Yes! Of course yes! I’ll be yours in any way you’ll have me!” Emboldened by her response, Barry picked Y/N up into a hug, spinning her around with the same strength that broke a man’s windpipe to share his love for her. As Barry set her down, he placed both hands on her beaming cheeks and laughed in disbelief. 

“Wow, I’m sorry I had plans! I don’t even have a ring yet…”

“I do!” Barry pulled a pistol out of the back waistband of his pants, roughly pushing his fiancé behind him as he faced the doorway to the bedroom, the source of the strange voice. NoHank had emerged from Y/N’s walk-in closet with tears in his eyes and his hands in the air, a twinkling ring in one hand. 

“What the hell, Hank??” 

“I told you I would stay nearby your _zuda!_” NoHank lowered his hands as Barry stored the gun back in its original spot. The bald Chechen handed him the ring, a bright smile on his face. 

“Thank you, Hank,” Y/N smiled at her friend, gesturing for Barry to put the blood diamond on her finger. He simply obeyed, his muttering under his breath about getting her a clean ring later quieted by her soft eyes. 

“Oh this is SO beautiful!!! I have shipped you ever since you guys went to the shooting range together!” 

“GET OUT HANK!”

“But-“ a flurry of movement and a warning shot cut short whatever NoHank was about to say, the bullet hitting the wall next to the memorial bottle. NoHank yelped, scampering out the bedroom window behind him. Y/N shook her head, a wry smile on her face as Barry made a show of putting his gun away. 

“That was a little dramatic, Bear.” He shrugged in response, kissing her earnestly with a joy he had never known. This commitment wasn’t going to be easy with Fuches still at large and Gene still unstable, but the radiance of affection that swelled through his once empty heart told him it would be worth it. After a long, beautiful kiss, Y/N broke it with a smile and tilted her head up at him.

“So am I ever going to know your real name?” He looked down at her, a gentle flush across his features as he pretended to consider her request. Suddenly, Y/N found his lips tickling her ear as he whispered faintly. She laughed, twisting away to get a good look at her fiancé. 

“Bartholomew! That is SUCH an actor’s name,” she laughed, ruffling his hair as he just gave her a lovesick look. Heading back to the kitchen to get their food, Y/N failed to notice Barry following her into the kitchen and yelped when he encircled her waist with both arms, kissing her on the cheek. 

“You know, you should change your actor’s name to Bartholomew Block for the Roach movie so it’s half real, half fake,” she added, the accidental reveal of the big news not dawning on her until Barry turned her to face him, the complete and blissful shock vibrant on his face.

“I GOT THE PART!” Y/N’s shy little nod prompted Barry to tackle her onto the floor playfully, his fingers brushing against her side accidentally and drawing a laugh from her lips. Kissing right under her ear, he smiled brighter than the sun.

“That is the second best news I’ve heard today!”


End file.
